1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and systems for identifying upgrades for a computer system configuration.
2. Description of the Related Art
Our society has become very dependent upon the ability of computers to handle complex tasks and automate routine processes. The drive to harness this ability has led to a pervasive use of computers in all aspects of modern life. Personal computer systems are used to produce documents, run complex mathematical problems, send and receive email, access the Internet, control manufacturing processes, and so much more. Server systems must store and quickly access huge amounts of data, run complex databases, handle Internet and other communication tasks, and participate in various and changing system management protocols. In a scalable environment, multiple individual computer processors or systems must work in concert to handle the required tasks. The demands placed on these computers can change rapidly as new applications are adopted and whole generations learn to rely upon them for everyday tasks.
Regardless of sophistication, computer systems are comprised of a combination of inter-related components. Whether the system is a personal computer (PC) or a server in a business environment, the system may be upgraded through the substitution or replacement of its component parts or by the inclusion of additional components. Upgrade components may also vary in scope from individual subcomponents, like a memory chip, to groups of complete computer systems. The availability of new technology has lead to large leaps in computer performance and this trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. As a result, an established computer system can quickly become outdated and perform poorly as demand increases.
The load on a computer system is the set of tasks the system is instructed to complete. When the load is known or predictable, the performance of an existing computer system with upgraded components may be modeled to predict performance. However, the point at which businesses can benefit the most from upgrading existing systems is difficult to determine and complicated by ever-changing component types, specification and costs.
Rapid advances in technology offer many opportunities for increased efficiency in the workplace. However, due to the number of vendors and the array of computer hardware and software products available in today's market, it is often difficult to determine when any particular upgrade is desirable or cost-effective. Still, there exists a need to predict the performance of a computer system under various conditions and to identify ways of improving that performance. It would be desirable to have a method of predicting this performance that could recommend ways of improving performance of the existing computer system. It would be even more desirable if the method could identify one or more of the most cost-effective ways to achieve the improved performance at any particular point in time.